Claude Bragdon's masterpiece: The New York Central Railway Station on Central Avenue

When most of my elderly relatives came to America as refugees after the Second World War, the old railway station on Central Avenue was the first thing they saw of Rochester. A large, majestic building designed by Claude Bragdon, it smacked of solidity, security and permanence. My family settled in the old German “Butterhole” neighborhood in Rochester ( St. Paul Street, Clinton and Joseph Avenues ) and saw the railway station on the bus to downtown Rochester ( when there was still a downtown Rochester worth taking the bus to go to ).

Appearances can be deceiving.

Before most of the family moved out of the old neighborhood ( after the 1964 riots, from which the neighborhood has never recovered ), half of the railway station was demolished, split right down the middle. Not only did it look like a ruin left over from post-World War II Europe, it looked downright tacky!

Eventually the remainder was demolished as well. A piece of Rochester’s history gone forever.

Not that Rochester ever owned the building. Many other historic buildings in Rochester were also being destroyed at that time, whether it was by intent through demolition to build something else on those sites, or by “accidental” fires that allowed for other development unhampered by structures that had national landmark status.

Oh, well.

Of course, Rochester still needed a railway station of sorts, for Amtrak, and it seemed practical to build it on the site of Bragdon’s masterpiece. But it didn’t seem practical to build something impressive or memorable in that part of the city. This was in the days when Rochester was still the economic powerhouse of the region, and when the dollar was still worth something.

So a “temporary” railway station was built on the site of the old one. It looks temporary, all right, and looks like it should be gracing a backwoods trailer park. But it was only meant to be temporary.

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

“Temporary” turned out to be 34 years!

There has been much talk in the last few years about developing an “intermodal” transportation hub here in Rochester, focusing on fast rail trains and buses. That makes perfectly good sense. Citygov is waiting to see whether or not the feds will approve this; according to the D&C, the decision should be made next month.

Of course, Rochester’s public bus system will not be part of this “intermodal plan.”

“Renaissance Square,” proposed by Republican County Executive Maggie Brooks ( who is now running for Congress ), featured an underground bus terminal at North Clinton Avenue and Mortimer Street, a mile south of the train station, the site of the proposed intermodal center. The whole debate over Ren Square brought life back into the concept of an intermodal plan.

Ren Square was shot down by the Democratic controlled City Council, for purely politically partisan reasons.

The next year, City Council approved building a new above-ground bus barn at North Clinton Avenue and Mortimer Street ( the same location as Ren Square’s proposed bus terminal! ) at the request of Rochester’s Democratic mayor.

Pure coincidence, right?

At any rate, Citygov has sought federal funds to build a “permanent” train station as the focal point for the new intermodal system, if the feds approve it. Citygov did get the money to have plans made for such a structure, and is seeking $20 million to get phase 1 of the project completed. The cost of phase 1 is estimated at $26 million. Where are we going to get the additional $6 million?

Just as an aside here: how long is “permanent” in Rochester, when “temporary” was 34 years?

Phase two, the completion of a second story to handle bus traffic ( NOT the local RGTA buses ) is estimated at costing $13 million.

And we all know that nothing involving government ever is completed within budget.

Supposedly, we will be getting a “sleeker version” of Bragdon’s work.

According to yesterday’s story in the D&C:

“We certainly can’t replicate or afford to reproduce the terracotta ceilings or
the extent that was a vaulted space,” said Jim Durfee, principal architect with
Bergmann Associates. Instead, the design borrows elements of the Bragdon Station
to “recall the glory days of rail travel and build them into a station that is
properly scaled.”

Yep, “properly scaled” down, to fit a declining city whose population is 150,000 fewer souls than when Bragdon’s masterpiece was torn down. And far fewer people use railways these days than they did even fifty years ago.

The proposed plan for the new railway station: Bragdon on a budget.

On the other hand, it’s better than what we have there now, which nobody has ever liked. At least it doesn’t look tacky.

And it’s cheaper than the Mortimer Street Bus Barn, which nobody other than politicians ever wanted at that site!

St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church is one of Rochester’s truly historic gems. Located on the corner of Clifford and Clinton Avenues, St. Michael’s is an imposing structure nearly 140 years old. St. Michael’s has national landmark status; it is the second oldest Neo-Gothic Church in the United States.

Built by German immigrants who fled Europe in the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848, St. Michael’s was the center of the neighborhood known as “The Butterhole.” Originally, St. Joseph’s ( now merely a shell; the main parts were destroyed by a mysterious fire in the 1970′s ) catered to the needs of those German Catholic immigrants. But as the German community grew and moved further north of Central Avenue past Clifford Avenue, there was a need to establish a new parish and build a church there. Remember, most people walked to church in those days, as horses and carriages were an expensive proposition.

Thus, the idea of St. Michael’s was born.

As the German flavor of the neighborhood was created as a result of fleeing revolution, so it was destroyed by the residents fleeing Rochester’s riots of 1964. The neighborhood has had a tough time since, a testimony to urban blight. But St. Michael’s has remained, testimony to an earlier time, when Rochester consisted mostly of ethnic neighborhoods, where English was a second language within their environs.

I have always felt nostalgic about St. Michael’s. My mother was converted to Catholicism there. My parents were married there. So were most of my Catholic relatives. I grew up in that neighborhood. All of my relatives settled there, Germanic refugees from Eastern Europe. It was a nice, compact little community, with everyone you knew, worked and played with living there. And St. Michael’s was at the center of it all.

Once a month, St. Michael’s has a German Mass, which draws people from all over the Rochester area. Most of the people who attend are of German descent who grew up in that neighborhood. The event features tours of the Church starting at 2 PM this Sunday ( October 17 ), to be followed by the Mass in German at 4 PM. Following that, there will be a kaffee klatsch in the parish hall, with German singing, dancing and music provided by none other than Adolph Ribitsch, locally prominent German-American musician.

For Rochesterians who are interested in a little bit of our city’s history, but are a bit tired of Octoberfest types of activities ( lederhosen, schuplattler and oompah pah ), this will make a nice change.

There is no cover charge, but donations to help maintain the church are gratefully accepted.

And for secular types who are interested in coming to see what it’s all about, don’t worry. I doubt that there will be earthquakes and fire raining down from the heavens when you enter the door!

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Rich Gardner has been writing about the history, culture and waterways of Upstate New York for years. His articles have appeared in U.S. and Canadian publications, and one book, Learning to Walk. He is an alumnus of Brighton High School and SUNY Geneseo. He operates Upstate Resume & Writing Service in Brighton and recently moved to Corn Hill, where he is already involved in community projects. "I enjoy the 'Aha!' moments of learning new things, conceptual and literal. City living is a great teacher."

Ken Warner grew up in Brockport and first experienced Rochester as a messenger boy for a law firm in Midtown Tower. He recently moved downtown into a loft on the 13th floor of the Temple Building with a view of the Liberty Poll and works in the Powers Building overlooking Rochester’s four corners as Executive Director for UNICON, an organization devoted to bringing economic development to the community. He hopes to use his Rochester Blog to share his observations from these unique views of downtown.